High Blood Pressure and Retina Health

What is high blood pressure?

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, can affect your body and eyes in many ways. It is important to know what your blood pressure is and to maintain good control of it.

Dr. Fish: High Blood Pressure & Retinal Vein Occlusions

What Your Ophthalmologist Sees Inside Your Eyes

Your ophthalmologist or retina specialist can directly see your retinal blood vessels through a comprehensive, dilated eye exam. The appearance of these vessels and your retina are excellent markers of the overall health of your body’s blood vessel system. In fact, the retina is the only place in the body where your physician can directly see your blood vessels. The retina is one of the organs most sensitive to sustained hypertension. Subjected to high blood pressure over time, the retinal blood vessels can become damaged and leak.

Elevated Blood Pressure Can Cause Changes in Your Retina

Changes that can occur include:

Bleeding

Edema and swelling of your retina

Exudation (fluid leakage) and buildup of protein and lipids in the retina

Small infarctions of the retina (tissue death due to inadequate blood supply), also known as “cotton wool spots”

Arteriosclerosis: arteriolar narrowing, artery-vein crossing changes (also known as “AV nicking”), changes in the color of arterioles and in advanced cases, sclerosis (abnormal hardening) of the blood vessels

Optic nerve swelling and blurred vision

Severe cases of hypertension may result in blockages of the retinal veins or arteries. These blockages of circulation (called occlusions), can cause severe loss of vision or even blindness.

Retina Consultants of Houston is the largest retina-only ophthalmology practice in Texas with 2 certified research centers and is one of the most respected in the United States. Our practice is also home to the Greater Houston Retina Research Center, one of the country’s leading sites for retinal research. All Retina Consultants of Houston physicians are board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and specialize exclusively in diseases and surgery of the retina, vitreous, and macula. In addition, we have an ocular oncology division, which focuses on cancer treatments for the eye. Our surgeons have studied at some of the most notorious institutions in the nation and all have graduated at the very top of their classes.